Railway wheel pilot



Dec. 31, 1929. E. a RIT ENOUR RAILWAY WHEEL PILOT Filed May 8, 1929 Patented Dec. 3 1, 1929 way wheelpilot asfor instance described in UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EARL E. RTTENOUR, OF'ALLIANGE, NEBRASKA RAILWAY WHEEL rrno'r Application filed Kay 8, 1929." Serial Io. 861,508.

My invention relates to an improvedrailmy- Patent No. 1,700,645, of January 29,1923, and it is the principal libject of this invention to replace 'the' V-shaped shoe shown in vision of a pilot or guard of this type of a thickness greater than the thickness of the wheel .flange in order to prevent the wheel flange from climbing over any object, even the ieaviest obstructions encountered by the car wheels. I

v A further object of my invention is the provision of a plurality of fingers of substantially elbow shape formed with the pilot or guard metal piece extending over the face of the wheel adapted to catch the flange on the inside of the wheel if extremely violent shocks are taken up by the guard, and thus prevent the flange from climbing.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a guard or pilot for railway car wheels the supportin pins of which have their ends threaded for t e reception of suitable nuts, etc.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become more fully apparent as the'description thereof proceeds, and will then be specifically defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a railway car, the truck of which is equipped with the improved wheel pilot or guard constructed according-to my invention. 7

i Fig. 2 is anend elevation illustrating the fingers on the improved guard construction. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one of the improved wheel guards or pilots.

Fig. 4 illustrates a special bolt construction used in mounting the wheel guard or pilot upon its support.

As illustrated on the drawing, 10 generally designates the body of a railway car of any conventional type and 11 the frame thereof. The truck 12 of any standard type includes the side frames 13 supporting journal boxes 14 and 15 at each end of the frame, and bed tween the ends sup orting a spring box 16,? wherein springs 1 resiliently support a i the car' bolster 18 upon which the frame 11 o 10 is resiliently supported in the conventional manner.

The journal boxes 14 and 15 are supported by the upper and lower bars of the frame 11 by means of pairs of bolts 19, the bolts of each pair serving also to secure the brackets 20 for the pilots or guards to the frame, or if a truck of for instance The Bettendorf Companys type is used, these bolts may be dispensed with andthe pilot or guard Brackets may be cast integral with the side plates of the truck frame.

The brackets 20 consist of divergent legs having a barrel 21 formed at their meeting ends. The inner or opposite ends of the bracket legs are designated 22 and 23 respectively and are disposed above and below t e journal boxes and are secured to the same and'the frame bars 12. and 13.by means of the bolts 19. v

The lower frame bars 24, 25, have each a pilot or guard supporting arm' 26 and attachin legs 27 "formed therewith, also secured elow the journal boxes by means of the bolts 19 carrying suitable heads or nuts 28. The arms 26 are bent downwardly beyond the journal boxes at an acute angle to the legs 27, and carry at their outer ends barrels or eyes 29. r

Supporting pins 30 best shown in Figures 2 and 4, have each an enlarged cylindrically shaped body portion 31, with a reduced end extension 32 at one. end thereof and a reduced extension 33 extending axially from the opposite end thereof.

A connecting web 34 holds portions 31 together.

The outer ends of extensions 32 and 33 are screw threaded as at 35, for the reception of suitable nuts. i

A straight piece of metal 36 of strap design having suitable eyes formed in the upper end and center thereof for attachment to' pins or bolts 30 extends down with a slight curve over rail 37 This metal piece or shoe 36 is thicker than the flange 38 of wheel 39.

On the inside of this metal piece two fingers 40, 41, having elbow'shape, (Figure 2) about two inches apart are cast with the piece and extend over the face of the wheel and will catch the flange on the inside of the wheel and will not permit the flange to climb in case of extremely severe or violent shocks are experienced by piece 36.

The operation of my device will be entirely clear from the foregoing description of the same by the simultaneous inspection of the drawing, and it will-be evident that l have invented a novel type of wheel pilot or guard for use in connections with railway "rolling stock which will effectively remove all obstructions from the ,tracks, and that my g'uard assisted by the fingers thereof will effectively prevent the wheel flanges from climbing and the wheels from leaving the track.

It will be understood that ha shown I and described the preferred form of my device as one example only of the many ways to practically construct the same, and that I may make such changes as come within the scope of the appended claims without departure from the invention and the principles involved.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A pilot or guard for the wheels of railroad cars comprising a strong metal member extending from the car frame in front of each wheel, down to the track, spaced therefrom, said member having eyes in its upper end and center, pins extending through said eyes and having threaded ends to receive fastenin nuts, and connections between said pins and the car frame.

2. A pilot or guard for the wheels of railroad cars comprising a strong slightly curved metal member extending downward in front of the wheels from the frame of the car to nearly the track, means for connectin said member to said frame, and a pair of fingers spaced apart from each other attached to said meu' ber to engage the wheel flange.

3. p lot or guard for railway cars comprising trong metal shoe extending from the car frame in front of the wheels in spaced relation thereto down nearly to the track, connections between the car frame and said shoe, and laterally extending elbow fingers spaced from each other and secured at one end in said shoe. the other end extending in front of the wheel flange to prevent the same flrom climbing upon the destruction of said s we.

Signed at Alliance. in the county of Box Butte and State ofNebraska, this second day of May, A. D. 1929.

EARL E. RITENOUR. 

